


Together We Make A Family

by Mockingjay468



Series: Silver Twins, Red Lovers [3]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And The First Age Ain't Happy, Because This Is The First Age, Beta'd, But Only if you squint really hard - Freeform, Could Be Canon, Drama, Fluff, Gen, Half-Elves, In Which We Twist Canon Into a Pretzel, Not For Any Other Reason, Sewing, The Twins Are Definitely Only Doing This For Caranthir And Amosgarn, not at all, nuh-uh, people being sad, yessir
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28342677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mockingjay468/pseuds/Mockingjay468
Summary: “Hello Eluréd. Can you tell me where Haldad is?” Amosgarn asked, leaning over the counter of the Blacksmith’s shop.Eluréd stood on his tiptoes so he could see over the top and nodded. “He went to measure Íreneth’s horse for horseshoes. He left me here in charge. Can I help you?”The twins had just about settled into the new village when the matter of family was brought up in their minds.
Relationships: Caranthir | Morifinwë & Caranthir's Wife & Eluréd & Elurín, Caranthir | Morifinwë & Elurín, Caranthir | Morifinwë & Indis, Caranthir | Morifinwë/Caranthir's Wife, Caranthir's Wife & Eluréd, Eluréd & Elurín (Tolkien), Eluréd & Original Male Character, implied Caranthir | Morifinwë/Caranthir's Wife/Haleth of the Haladin
Series: Silver Twins, Red Lovers [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2078715
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Together We Make A Family

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all!  
> A new story within the day! I can guarantee this will likely not happen again as now Christmas is over I must once more turn my mind to things such as revision but I shall endeavour to get out a few more stories before school restarts.  
> As ever, a huge thanks to my beta [oliviacat3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oliviacat3/pseuds/oliviacat3).  
> A quick note on both Silvan and Halish, if you are interested - for these languages (Silvan being one mentioned by Tolkien but given no words beyond Legolas being of Silvan origin and Halish not even being given a name) I am taking great creative liberties with some of Tolkien's older languages (I use [Parf Edhellon](https://www.elfdict.com/) for any translations).  
> For Silvan, I am using Gnomish with a smattering of some other languages when the words I want aren't there and for Halish I am taking whatever I want from any of the Edain languages and a bit from Gnomish due to the fact that I think it's a bit of a forerunner for Adûnaic and has basis within the Green Elf languages among other things. But that's enough from me!  
> I hope you all enjoy!

Elurín knocked timidly on the door to the weaving hut.

The door was opened a moment later by an old woman who frowned as she saw him and called over her shoulder for Caranthir in the Halish language.

While they waited for Caranthir to make an appearance, Elurín shuffled under the woman’s hard gaze as she silently examined him. He and his brother had become a sort of spectacle in the village since they had arrived and were constantly watched and whispered about. Amosgarn had said it would get better when they started to be able to speak Halish slightly more proficiently and they got closer to the other children around their age.

Elurín hoped that would be the case. It was awfully uncomfortable to be under the scrutiny of so many people.

Caranthir appeared in the doorway and the woman finally turned away, likely to return to her own work.

“Hello Elurín. I thought you were spending the day with Haldad?” Caranthir picked threads off his clothes as he spoke, sending an anxious look back into the room.

Elurín bit his lip. “I was but it was too hot in the forge. He sent me here.”

“Hmm.” Caranthir’s lips twitched slightly into a smile. “Come on then. I shall teach you to fix a seam and we’ll see where that gets us.”

* * *

“Hello Eluréd. Can you tell me where Haldad is?” Amosgarn asked, leaning over the counter of the Blacksmith’s shop.

Eluréd stood on his tiptoes so he could see over the top and nodded. “He went to measure Íreneth’s horse for horseshoes. He left me here in charge. Can I help you?”

Amosgarn smiled brightly. “Yes please. I need some nails for Léofel’s new door. Could you be a sweetheart and pass on the message?”

Eluréd nodded effusively. “Of course! How many will you need?”

“Twelve. All about a hands length long.” Amosgarn tapped lightly on the top of the counter. “Will you be able to remember that?”

“Of course!” Eluréd matched her brilliant grin and repeated _twelve nails, hands length long_ over and over in his head. “You don’t need to worry.”

“Nana! I thought you were with Meduwine at the mill.”

From his rather limited gaze over the counter, Eluréd could see Haldad hurrying over, tucking a small notebook in the pocket of his leather apron.

“I was,” Amosgarn said, turning around. “But they sent me away when Léofel needed help on a new door.”

“And that’s why you’re here?” Haldad guessed as he slipped through the gate into the forge.

“Yes!” Eluréd broke in, dropping onto his heels as his feet were beginning to hurt. “She needs twelve nails all a hands length long.”

Haldad slid a box by the counter and lifted Eluréd onto it so he could see without trouble. “You should know, Léofel breaks his door nearly every season. Usually you can reuse the nails from the last one.”

Amosgarn shrugged. “I have fixed many doors in my time dear. I know how it works. I could barely salvage three, let alone all of them.” She fished in her pocket. “I have the remains of the rest, if you want.”

She laid some scraps of metal on the counter and Eluréd made a face.

“I don’t think those are nails,” He said, reaching for one.

Amosgarn batted his hand away. “Don’t. They’re sharp.”

Eluréd pouted and watched as Haldad picked them up with his gloved hands and dropped them into the discard pile. “Fine. I’ll get him some nails by tomorrow. But tell him I’ll only give them if he gives me something nice in return.”

“Thank you dear.” Amosgarn grinned, pushing herself away from the counter. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“See you tonight,” Haldad muttered, stoking the forge fire with possibly a bit too much anger than was entirely necessary.

* * *

Elurín stuck his tongue out in concentration as he guided his needle along the seam line.

He hadn’t done very much on the shirt in the time it had taken Caranthir to fix nine pairs of leggings but Caranthir had told him to go carefully so that all his stiches were neat and small.

His hand slipped and his needle got caught in the centre of the fabric. He huffed in annoyance and let Caranthir silently undo his accidental stitch.

“There we go.” He positioned the fabric over Elurín’s knees again so he had a good view of the torn seam. “You’re nearly there and you’ve done some really good stitching.”

Elurín wrinkled his nose. “I wasn’t very fast though.”

“That’s OK,” Caranthir said, picking his own fixing back up. “It comes with practice. I’ve been doing this for over a thousand years and my grandmother was the most esteemed broideress of all the Quendi.”

“Really?” Elurín looked up in interest and accidentally dug his needle into his finger. “Ow!”

Tears pricked his eyes at the pain and he angrily blinked them away as he put the finger in his mouth and sucked. He’d done this four times already.

“Careful there. Are you alright?”

Elurín nodded. “Wath she weally?” He asked, slurring slightly.

“Yes. My father was very proud of that fact.” Caranthir paused in his work and sighed deeply. “Very proud,” He whispered.

Elurín bit his lip. “Are…are you OK?”

Caranthir startled. “Oh yes, of course!” He blinked and gave Elurín a distracted smile. “Is your finger better now?”

Elurín nodded, wiping his hand on his tunic and picking his needle back up.

He noticed it took a while for Caranthir to begin his own work again and, when he did, it was with a slightly dejected posture.

+++++

Amosgarn reappeared at the same time that Haldad finished the horseshoes for Íreneth.

Eluréd scrambled back onto his box and smiled. “ _Gwest bel Inzilwen_.”

Amosgarn’s face spasmed for a moment before settling on her usual grin, even if it did seem a bit strained. “Your Halish is coming along very well! As a linguist, I am very proud!” She complimented, poking his nose gently

Eluréd nodded, pleased he had made her proud.

“Did Haldad teach you that?”

“ _Eze_.” He scrunched up his face, thinking for a moment. “ _Dunred-ar_.”

Amosgarn smiled. “Ah. Dunred came around did he?”

“ _Eze_!” Eluréd said, but switched back to Sindarin when he couldn’t think of anymore words. “He needed his dagger fixed but Haldad didn’t do very much fixing. They mainly stood and talked for _ages_ before Haldad even _touched_ the knife. It happened yesterday and the day before and the day before and-”

“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” Amosgarn said, leaning close. “I think Dunred and Haldad might like each other a little bit.”

“Ooh.” Eluréd felt his eyes go wide. “Like…like you and Caranthir?”

Amosgarn beamed. “ _Exactly_.”

“Eluréd, do we have another customer?” Haldad called, coming through from the main hut. “Ah. Nana. I trust you talked to Léofel?”

“Of course. He says he’ll trade you a bushel of apples for the nails.”

Haldad sighed. “I suppose I won’t get anything better. When you give them to him, tell him I shan’t help until at least a year has passed. I don’t know _what_ he does to it.”

“I will. So, I hear a certain Dunred has been coming around here pretty often?”

Haldad rolled his eyes. “Ami, don’t work yourself up over nothing. It’s not like it’ll turn into anything.”

Amosgarn frowned. “Whyever not? By the sounds of it, you don’t hate his company.”

“Not hating someone isn’t the same as liking them.”

“You were laughing quite a lot,” Eluréd said. “ _I_ only do that when I like someone.”

“Well, isn’t that good for you.”

“Haldad.” Amosgarn was using the warning tone she adopted when he and Elurín had a disagreement.

Haldad shot something back in Halish but spoke too quickly for Eluréd to understand what he had said.

Amosgarn set her shoulders back and stood up straight. “Then don’t give away my names _Ainang_.”

She spun on her heels and strode off down the main road and Eluréd watched her go until she disappeared behind a hut.

Behind him, Haldad huffed. “ _Don’t give away my names_ ,” He mimicked. “It’s stupid. A name is just a name.”

“Was she upset because I called her Inzilwen?” Eluréd asked, climbing slowly down from his box.

“No.” Haldad didn’t look at him as he searched in one of the boxes on the shelves around the forge. “She’s angry at me because I told her that name. Ma gave it to her and now she refuses to use it.”

“Why?” Eluréd sat himself cross-legged on the top of the box.

Haldad sighed. “Ma died and Ami misses her, I suppose. But if you say that, so do I, but you don’t see me abandoning everything I was given by her.”

Eluréd hummed in agreement but for once, he didn’t speak.

* * *

“Do you miss Nana and Ada?”

Elurín spun around in bed to face his brother. “Of course. Why?”

“Haldad…” Eluréd stopped as he struggled to find the right words. Eventually, he reached out with his mind across their bond and showed Elurín the conversation. “Are we…are we not missing them correctly?”

Elurín shook his head effusively. “Of course not! I don’t think you can miss someone wrong. Caranthir _never_ talks about his family – not even in little snippets like Amosgarn does – but he misses them, I’m sure of it. He went all sad today when I asked.”

“It’s just like that first night – I was scared because Nana and Ada weren’t there anymore and I ran off.”

Elurín wrinkled his nose. “I remember.”

“Yes.” Eluréd still looked a bit guilty at causing his twin distress. “But Amosgarn found me and said that it was perfectly fine to feel so many emotions. She said she felt like that when her father died but she comforted herself by knowing that she would see them again.”

“And it was OK. She loved him just the same when she was adopted by Timpinen.”

Eluréd nodded and then his eyes lit up.

Elurín gave his brother a suspicious look. “You have that look where you’ve had an idea.”

“I have!” He said excitedly and then looked guilty. “It’s a bit presumptuous. And it might not be great?”

“What is it?”

“We could maybe…askCaranthirandAmosgarntoadoptus?”

Elurín rose an eyebrow – a skill he’d been learning from Caranthir.

“Not necessarily for _us_. But it might be nice for them – to have someone new to care for. Like when _Amosgarn_ was adopted.”

Elurín bit his lip. “That’s not…a _terrible_ idea. We…we could ask tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?” Eluréd asked, picking up on his twins apprehension for once.

Elurín turned the idea over in his head.

It wasn’t _necessarily_ going against Nana and Ada – they would _always_ be Nana and Ada – but it sounded nice to have an Ami (that _was_ what mother was in Silvan, if he remembered correctly) and an Atya (that was what Haldad called Caranthir) too, if they were allowed. And it wasn’t a huge leap from where they were already: Amosgarn and Caranthir _had_ been caring for them unconditionally for the past few months…

“Yes,” Elurín said, this time with more determination. “I am.”

* * *

Eluréd stirred his porridge with his wooden spoon.

“Elurín and I were thinking,” He began, looking nervously between Amosgarn and Caranthir, “We had a sort of idea.”

Elurín nodded beside him.

“Yes?” Amosgarn asked, letting her own spoon dangle loosely from her hand.

“We were thinking and we thought that it might be nice if you…maybe adopted us?”

Caranthir, who had been taking a sip of water at that moment in time, choked. “Really?” Amosgarn asked incredulously from beside him. “What brought this on?”

Elurín shrunk back in his chair slightly. “If you don’t think it’s a good idea, you don’t-”

“I didn’t say that.” Amosgarn twisted one of her braids around her finger. “It just feels very out of the blue.”

Elurín prodded his mind, practically diffusing anxiety into the air.

“We were talking last night,” Eluréd said simply. “We had been thinking about things like Nana and Ada and how we would see them again one day but until then, we didn’t really have anyone? And you’ve been looking after us and you’re really, _really_ nice and so we thought…?”

“If you’re absolutely certain you won’t mind, I don’t see why not,” Caranthir said quietly and he smiled at them. “I am honoured that you would like us to adopt you.”

Eluréd relaxed and could feel Elurín’s anxieties melt away somewhat.

Amosgarn stared into her porridge for a moment before her face split into one of the widest smiles Eluréd had seen her wear. “I would love to adopt you.”

And that was that.

* * *

Caranthir sang the twins to sleep the night after they were officially adopted – he didn’t necessarily need to, as the twins were very good at going to sleep by themselves, but Eluréd had asked and Caranthir had felt like complying for once.

_Go to sleep and rest your head,_

_I’ll keep you safe, there’s no need to fret._

It was the same lullaby he had sung Elurín the night they had been pulled from their camp in the woods by the forest to save two small children from freezing to death.

_I’ll fight the monsters deep below,_

_And when morning comes, you won’t be alone._

He had sung it when Haldad came to him with a burn from his new forge apprenticeship; or Halreda had skinned knees and palms from sliding halfway down a hill but she was too stubborn to cry; or when Nibenaes was teased for her stutter or her freckles or her height by the other elflings her age.

_Go to sleep and rest your head,_

_I’ll stay right here, right by your bed._

He had sung it to Ambarussa, once, back when they had been small enough to be scared of thunderstorms and would come creeping into his bed because Atto was in the forge; Káno and Nelyo were both too insomniac to sleep; Tyelko was Eru knew where; and Curvo was barely older than they were.

_Soon the night will have passed you by,_

_With nothing to fear, not here where you lie._

Harunillë had sung it to him when he had just passed his twelfth begetting day. She had found him knitting with deep concentration etched on his face as he tried to master cabling in a rather remote part of the palace. She had put her hands on her hips and, after declaring that that would never do, lead him to Haruni’s studio, which had been left untouched since her passing.

_Go to sleep and rest your head,_

_I’ll keep you safe, there’s no need to fret._

Harunillë had sung as he worked from one of the books Haruni had written on the subject matter, her sketchbook and pencil out. Her voice accompanied his work until the day that Atto was banished from Tirion and he accompanied him, just like his brothers, leaving behind the rest of his family.

_I’ll fight the monsters deep below,_

_And when morning comes, you won’t be alone._

He finished his song, hesitated for a moment before pressing a light kiss to each of the sleeping twins’ foreheads and gently crept from the room.

“I haven’t heard that song in a while,” Haldad remarked quietly and Caranthir shrugged.

“You want me to sing you to sleep to?” He asked, smiling slightly, and his son stuck out his tongue.

“Don’t be ridiculous Atya.” But he was smiling. “You know, I’m glad you adopted them. At least _someone_ in our family has some sense of decency.”

Caranthir disagreed.

**Author's Note:**

> Non-Canon Names:  
> Íreneth - Iron Woman (Halish)  
> Léofel - Cat Man (Halish)  
> Meduwine - Golden Friend (Halish)  
> Inzilwen - Flower Maiden (Halish)  
> Dunred - Dark-Haired Heir (Halish)  
> Ainang - Small Iron (Silvan)  
> Halreda - Chieftain's Heir (Halish)  
> Nibenaes - Small and Sharp (Sindarin)
> 
> Quenya Translations:  
> Quendi - Elves  
> Atya - Father (Informal)  
> Atto - Father (Informal)  
> Andamil - Grandmother (Informal)  
> Andammë - Grandmother (Informal)
> 
> Halish Translations:  
> Gwest bel Inzilwen - Hello friend Inzilwen  
> Eze - Yes  
> Dunred-ar - And Dunred
> 
> Silvan Translations:  
> Ami - Mother (Informal)
> 
> Sindarin Translations:  
> Ada - Father (Informal)  
> Nana - Mother (Informal)


End file.
